New SMU students - see you at Freshers Fayre!

Some of the library staff will be attending Freshers Fayre at the Townhill Campus tomorrow, so do come over to our stand and have a chat with us about our many services and resources to help you with your course. We'll also be giving away some freebies such as bookmarks, and chocolates...mmm!

Have you collected your SMU ID card yet?

Calling all new (and returning) students...if you have completed the enrolment process, either online or in person, we should have your SMU ID card ready for collection at the library on your designated campus. You will need to bring some appropriate photo ID with you, such as your passport or driver's license.

Your SMU ID card will be required as proof of ID when on campus, it will also be your library card, printing and photocopying card, provide door access to certain buildings, and the P number on the front doubles as your username for computers and online access to library e-resources.

Your card will last for the duration of your studies here at SMU and there is a £10 charge for replacement of lost cards, so keep it safe! Also, due to the microchip technology embedded within your new card we request that you don't punch holes in them (to attach to keyrings etc) and keep them as flat as possible. To this end (and because we're feeling generous!) we'll give you a free lanyard and card holder as well.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Happy birthday F. Scott!

If he was still alive, American author F.Scott Fitzgerald would be celebrating his 115th birthday this Saturday, the 24th September. His novels chronicle the Jazz Age of good times and fast living for the social elite in America. His tales of wealthy, glamorous people spiralling towards self-destruction feel just as relevant today as they must have done in the 1920s! Townhill Library has a number of Fitzgerald's novels and collections of short stories available for loan, as well as the DVD of The Great Gatsby, starring Robert Redford, Mia Farrow and a very young Patsy Kensit. Come in and borrow something!

Nice to meet you!

It was nice to meet some of our new international students at the International Student Welcome Event this morning, held at the Townhill campus. We look forward to seeing you again when you come for your library induction sessions.

Library staff will also be at Freshers Fayre a week tomorrow and we look forward to having the opportunity to chat to all new students there. You will also have the opportunity to ask us any questions about the SMU Library service and resources, that perhaps you haven't thought of before...and we'll be giving away free chocolates! See you there...

Introducing your subject librarian...

Welcome to the first in a series of posts in which we will introduce you to the SMU librarians who are here to support your subject areas. First of all, we have Philippa Price who supports Swansea School of Education on the Townhill campus.

Philippa
I have been an Assistant Librarian at SMU for nearly six years now. This is my first librarian position, but not my first job in a library. I spent a brief time as a library assistant at Swindon College, a further education college in, wait for it, Swindon. Before that, I was a library assistant on Five Valleys Mobile Library, based in Stroud. This was an idyllic job that involved being driven round the Cotswolds area and drinking cups of tea provided by our lovely patrons while I helped them choose their books. As wonderful as it was though, overall I prefer working in the higher education sector. Townhill Library is certainly much busier than the mobile library ever was!

To become a librarian, I gained a Masters in Information and Library Studies at Aberystwyth University. Aberystwyth is something of a home from home for me as I also read American Studies there as an undergraduate. It's wet and windy in the winter, but it's a lovely town and I try to go back for visits when I can. Aber gave me a taste for living by the sea, so I'm very pleased to have ended up in Swansea, especially with such a stunning view of Mumbles from work!

Outside of work, I am, of course, an avid reader. (What kind of librarian would I be if I didn't like books?) I've just finished The little stranger by Sarah Waters, which I very much enjoyed. Aside from books, I go swimming a couple of times a week and go to the cinema fairly regularly. In the evenings, when I'm not swimming or at the pictures, I tend to veg out in front of the TV. I'm very excited about the return of Strictly Come Dancing and will be rooting for Jason Donovan to win!

That's me in a nutshell. I've already met some PGCE students at their library inductions and am looking forward to meeting many more Education students over the next month or so. I hope you've enjoyed this little insight into my life. Don't judge me too harshly for being a Jason Donovan fan!

It's Roald Dahl Day!

This celebration of Dahl's work takes place every year on the 13th September, the author's birthday. This year is extra special as it's also the 50th anniversary of James and the Giant Peach. Find out more about Roald Dahl Day and the man himself on the official website: http://www.roalddahl.com/.

Come and rediscover Roald Dahl in Townhill Library, where we have a number of his books available to borrow. Choose from his children's books, his autobiographies or some Tales of the Unexpected. You're bound to find something you like!

Has anyone got any favourites they'd like to share? I remember enjoying Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes as a child. For anyone who hasn't come across it, it's a wickedly funny collection of poems based on some classic fairy tales, retold in Roald Dahl's unmistakable style. Brilliant!

Townhill Library open evenings and Saturdays

For most of you, the start of term is still a week or two away, but with the arrival of the Secondary PGCEs cohort today (welcome!), it's almost back to business as usual for SMU's Townhill Library. We aren't quite back to a full term-time service yet, but opening hours for this week are as follows:-

8.30am - 9pm Monday to Wednesday
8.30am - 5pm Thursday
8.30am - 7pm Friday
10am-4pm Saturday

Please note the 5pm closure on Thursday. This may continue for a few weeks due to staff shortages. Sorry for any inconvenience this might cause. Keep an eye on the Notices section of the library homepage for updates on opening times.

Owen Library and Griffith Library are still operating vacation hours, but Mount Pleasant and Dynevor students are welcome to use Townhill Library, so please feel free to call in and take advantage of our extended hours.

Welcome to our new Foundation Art students!

We'd like to extend a warm welcome to all Foundation Art students who are beginning their studies at SMU today!

Your Library induction session will take place next week, when we will introduce you to the wide-ranging resources and services that your SMU Library has to offer, to help you with your course. You will also be able to collect your University membership card at the same time.

In the meantime, if you are on the Dynevor campus please feel free to come and take a look around, you'll find us next to main reception. We look forward to meeting you all soon!

2011 Man Booker shortlist

Back in July, we told you about the books that had made it on to the Man Booker longlist for 2011. The list has been whittled down even further and the shortlist of six titles has now been announced! They are:-

Julian Barnes The sense of an ending (Jonathan Cape - Random House)
Carol Birch Jamrach's menagerie (Canongate Books)
Patrick deWitt The Sisters brothers (Granta)
Esi Edugyan Half blood blues (Serpent's Tail)
Stephen Kelman Pigeon English (Bloomsbury)
A. D. Miller Snowdrops (Atlantic)

The winner will be announced on Tuesday 18th October! Find out more on the Man Booker website: http://www.themanbookerprize.com. Have you any favourites from the shortlist? Or any others you think should have got through but didn't? Let us know!

Welcome to our Primary PGCE students!

This week sees the arrival of our new Primary PGCE students on Townhill Campus. It's a sure sign that the new academic year is upon us! The library staff would like to welcome you to SMU and wish you all the very best in what is sure to be a hectic but rewarding year on the PGCE course.

Your library induction is booked for Thursday. This is when we'll tell you about our resources and let you know how to get the most out of your library service, but feel free to call in for a wander before then. Our friendly staff will be happy to answer any questions you might have. If you get a chance, you might like to have a look at our Teaching Practice section on the first floor of Townhill Library. This collection offers a selection of picture books, fiction and non-fiction books for children which you're sure to make use of in the year ahead.


We look forward to meeting you all!

Dynevor Library to be re-named

The Dynevor Library is to be re-named 'The Griffith Library at Dynevor', in memory of Sue Griffith, Art & Design lecturer, who sadly passed away at the end of July.

Sue was also our Art & Design library representative, and was a great advocate of libraries, and indeed was instrumental in the development of the Art & Design library stock over the last twenty years. She will be missed as a colleague and friend at Dynevor, but hopefully this is a fitting tribute to her, and during the autumn term an official naming ceremony will take place.

I'd like to leave you with a quote from Sue, taken from a blog post earlier on in the year...

"I love the atmosphere of libraries and the whole concept of sharing books (knowledge)... libraries are luscious."